Never Hide Stride Pride
June 19 2009

William told the Pianobabbler the other day that he loves to work with Fats Waller playing on his iPod.

William is 15 years old. His work is school homework.

There is hope.

Do you know Fats Waller? Do you know about Willie "The Lion" Smith? James P. Johnson? Lucky Roberts? Donald Lambert? Don Ewell? Dick Wellstood?

If you do, constrideulations. If you don't, the Pianobabbler hopes you will. These names define stride piano. (There are others, but these ones are a darn fine start.)

Stride piano. You can Google the term for a technical description. I'll give you my subjective one. Stride piano is a (mostly) solo piano style from the 1920's and 30's. It's strongest feature is the driving left hand oom-pah oom-pah, oom-pah oom-pah. Each oom is a single note. Each pah is a fat chord. The result is a rock-rhythm drive in the bass. Up in the treble, the right hand plays melody and flourishes.

Stride thrived in the days when the piano was the orchestra, radio, sound system, iPod, and house band. Solo piano made music in the restaurants, bars, and parties. It had to be a full sound. Energetic. Danceable.

Stride piano is virtuoso music. Unfailingly happy music. Even when it's bluesy, as in Fats Waller's Black and Blue, or dreamy, as in Willie The Lion's Echoes of Srping, the happy virtuosity remains.

Modernity buries antiquity. That's normal. But there are old jewels worth preserving and honouring. Stride piano is one of them.

Stride piano has not disappeared today. There are some great practitioners: Dick Hyman, Paul Asaro and Mike Lipskin come to mind. But stride has little cachet in jazz orthodoxy. Young students are not encouraged to learn or explore it. The establishment neglects it.

That's really too bad. The music is still vital. It still rocks. It's still fresh. William shows us it connects with the youngest listeners today.

So, go out and listen to some stride today. Fat's Waller playing Handful of Keys. Willie the Lion playing I Found a New Baby. Dick Wellstood playing Caravan. If you're a pianist- sit down and play some!

My own favourite jazz recording of all time, stride or not- up there with Kind of Blue, A Love Supreme, and you name it -is the two-piano stride pairing of Willie The Lion and Don Ewell, Grand Piano on Sackville Records. It still packs plenty of oom-pah oom-pah for every boompa.

Stride lives.

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